Bei Fongs' Best Friend
by MarblesG
Summary: Lin loves animals as Korra learns learns. Tenzin tells Korra the story of Yono and what that reindeer dog meant to the Bei Fongs.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Korra**

* * *

"Fetch, Naga!"

Korra watched as her polar bear dog frantically ran for the ball. It was a gentle winter day on Air Temple Island. The snow was softly coming down and both the avatar and her animal companion couldn't resist the feeling of snow. It reminded both of them of back home. Any chance to feel like that was an oppurtunity wasted if they did not get to touch the snow.

The huge animal set the ball down next to Korra's feet. The avatar roughly scratched Naga's white fur. "Good girl. I'm glad you like your new ball."

The animal grunted and licked her owner's face.

"I know it isn't good as the last one, but you know how Chief No Fun is."

Naga howled.

"Glad you agree."

"Korra!"

The avatar couldn't help but roll her eyes at the familiar voice of her airbending master yelling for her once more. She threw the ball once more before turning around to face Tenzin.

"What can I do for you today?" She crossed her arms.

Tenzin gave her his usual scowl. "Not for me. Lin asked for you. She wants you to come down to her office to talk about the press confrence."

Korra turned around when Naga returned and nudged her from behind. "Chief Grumpy is just worried that I'll hurt the president."

"You nearly did last time. I understand Lin's concern."

Korra cupped her ear towards Naga's snout. "What's that girl? Tenzin is just like Bei Fong? Oh I know. No wonder they dated."

The airbender cringed slightly before frowning. "Can we not start with that, please."

"I just gotta know something. How could you possibly even think having a romantic relationship with her was a good idea?" Korra asked rather rudely.

Tenzin sighed. "Lin is a very honorable woman, Korra. She has done great things for the city. She is an exceptional police chief, brilliant earthbender-"

"Blah, blah, blah. I know that. I'm not saying she isn't respectable. She is. What I'm asking is why you thought she was capable of a loving relationship? She's stubborn, rude, blunt..."

"Her mother was also those things you know."

"...hates animals, sweets-"

"Wait, say that again?"

"What?" Korra put a hand on her hip and looked at Tenzin quizzically. "Sweets? Yeah, Lin hates sweets. She barely touches her dessert when she is over for dinner. I don't think I have ever seen her eat-"

"Not that! The one before that." The mast airbender corrected.

Korra scowled. "Oh. Lin hates animals."

"No she doesn't." Tenzin fought back.

"She broke Naga's ball when we were headed for Zaofu. Naga was upset." The avatar petted her polar bear dog who was seated next to her left leg.

"Listen, Korra." Tenzin's voice softened. "Lin may not be the most gentle person, but she doesn't hate animals. She loves them in fact."

"Bei Fong loves animals? No way. You're pulling my leg, Tenzin." Korra scoffed.

The airbender smiled. "She really does. Lin was under a lot of stress since Zaheer and his gang were out to get you. She wasn't exactly in the mood to play. But I promise you that she really does love animals."

"I can't even imagine her playing with a bison. Or even Pabu."

"I'm surprised you never noticed Pabu sitting in her lap when everyone is here on the island."

Korra's eyes widened. "What?!"

"I suppose you usually overlook it doing whatever it is you teenagers do."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Tenzin out his hands up. "Nothing, nothing. Anyways, Lin even had a reindeer dog as a kid."

"Really?" The avatar's eyebrows shot up.

"She loved him so much."

The two began walking towards the bison stables.

* * *

_"There, there, Suyin. Mom is gonna be here any minute." Katara continued to rock the two year old in her arms. She felt relieved hearing the front door open._

_"Dad's home!" Aang yelled once he got into the living room. Kya, Bumi, and Tenzin all ran to their father. He hugged all of them. "I brought Toph with me."_

_The earthbender walked in, hands behind her head. "And where are my kiddos?"_

_Katara walked over and handed Su to her mother. "One is right here. She's been asking for you."_

_Toph kissed her youngest obnoxiously on the cheek. "Hey there, badgermole. I missed you too." She paused trying to find someone. "Where's my other one?"_

_"Mom!"_

_The chief of police smirked at the excitement in Lin's voice. The eight year old ran to her mother who ruffled her hair. However, she was slightly confused to feel two heartbeats._

_"Uh, you got someone with you there, squirt?"_

_Lin smiled and hugged the small animal in her arms. "Its a reindeer puppy!"_

_The avatar's children quickly ran over to the oldest Bei Fong sister and began petting the dog. The puppy seemed to enjoy the attention._

_"Where did you find her?" Katara asked._

_"Him, Aunt Katara." Lin corrected. "I found him scratching at the bison's berry crate. He's so small. I don't know how he got to the island."_

_"He must of snuck onto one of the ships. Hi little guy!" Aang scratched the dog's neck. The puppy barked._

_Toph yawned. "I'm beat. We going home or what?"_

_"What about the reindeer puppy?" Lin asked._

_"'We' includes the mutt."_

_The eldest Bei Fong sister smiled widely. "I get to keep him?"_

_"Are you sure about that, Toph? A pet is a lot of responsibility." Katara warned._

_"Eh, let the kid do what she wants. Having a pet is suppose to teach kids responsibility right? It's not like she wasn't about to ask me, ain't that right, short stuff?" Toph put a hand on her hip._

_"Thanks, Mom!" Lin was too distracted by the new addition to the Bei Fong family. "I'm gonna name him Yono!"_

* * *

Korra helped Tenzin airbend the saddle onto Oogi. "But reindeer puppies are so cute. Cute and Lin don't go together."

"Nonetheless, the Bei fongs effectively integrated Yono into the family. Whenever Lin and Suyin were at the island, so was Yono. At home, as Lin would tell me, even Toph would nap with the reindeer dog."

"I can't even imagine that. Suyin maybe. But she could be just as rough as Lin if she chose to be." Korra pondered the thought.

Tenzin airbended himself onto Oogi's head. Korra boarded the saddle. "Yip, yip!"

"So does Lin still have Yono?" The avatar put her hands behind her head.

The master airbender hesitated before speaking. "No."

Korra became intrigued. "What happened?"

* * *

_"Can I walk him, Lin?"_

_The thirteen year old rolled her eyes at her younger sister. "You walked him last time."_

_"Let me walk him. I'll let you play earth disc with him when we get to the park. Please?" Su clasped her hands together and stared at Lin trying to be the most adorable she was capable of._

_Lin's eyes thinned. Not wanting to deal with her snitching to their mother, she handed over the leash._

_Suyin yipped in glee. Yono barked in response. The three of them continued to walk towards the large park in the middle of the city. Toph had agreed to meet the girls there after work and eat out as the chief of police promised her daughters she would be getting off early._

_"Mom is gonna be so proud when she sees what I taught Yono." Suyin ran behind their reindeer dog. "Yono, charge!"_

_At once the dog lowered its head so that its antlers were pointed out. Yono ran at full speed forwards, pulling Su along with him practically dragging the seven year old. Lin moved her jacket out of the way and bent a metal cable to Yono's antlers. Her mother let her borrow a spool as she had just began to get the hang of metal bending She pulled back to stop the dog's attack._

_"Woah there Yono." The eldest Bei Fong glared at Su. "You taught Yono how to attack?"_

_"Well, at school a moose lion has antlers just like Yono. I thought he could do the same thing."_

_Before Lin could retort back, she finally realized where they had ended up. The three had somehow ended up in an ally way squeezed between two buildings. Lin was alarmed at once when she also realized they were closer to the triad district than she liked._

_"Su, we gotta go." Lin grabbed her younger sisters hand tightly._

_The smaller girl looked around. "This is a nasty place."_

_"If we don't hurry, we'll meet up with some nasty people."_

_"Nasty? It's not our faults that we ended up on the streets."_

_Her seismic sense heightened, Lin stared at the stingy man approaching them. Around her, she could feel about six other bodies. Yono barked and lowered into an attack stance. The dog growled as it tried to find every body surrounding the girls._

_Lin cleared her throat. "Do you want money? Because you can take it."_

_There were only a chorus of chuckles as they watched Lin throw them several silver yuans. The coins remained scattered on the grimy alley way floors._

_"We don't need your money. We're here for a little...payback."_

_Su yelled. "For what?"_

_The leader (they assumed) twirled his mustache in between two fingers. "We know you two are the bastards that Chief Bei Fong calls her kids. Your esteemed mother put our boss in the slammer a few weeks ago and interrupted our business. We don't appreciate that much and thought maybe we should take away something of hers as well." He began walking towards them once again._

_Both Lin and Su dropped into an earthbending stance, their hands still held together._

_"I don't even have to ask. You two picked the hard way didn't you?"_

_Lin spat at his feet. "You bet your ass."_

_As quick as she could, Lin bent the coins she had dropped on the floor and bent all of them outwards, speeding like bullets to the surrounding henchmen. She took on their leader plus two other men. Suyin had about two men and was teamed up with Yono against them._

_The small girl evaded her attackers weapons effectively. When she had a clean shot, the seven year old sent medium sized chunks of earth hurling towards the men. The first one jumped over it while the other was too slow and was knocked in the stomach. He fell to the ground with a thud._

_"Yono, charge!"_

_Following Su's orders, the dog used its antlers to push their second attacker all the way into the back wall. The impact knocked the man right out._

_Suyin smirked. "Good boy."_

_However, the small girl was not prepared to have her hair pulled upwards and her feet lifted off the ground._

_"Aaaah!"_

_Lin looked over her shoulder to see her younger sister in the clutches of the leader. She had been distracted by the two men attacking her to notice where he had gone. Lin turned back and shot an earth pillar from the ground and shot one man out of the alley way into the streets. That would get someone's attention. Next, the thirteen year old jumped straight onto the other henchman and grabbed his hands. She bent his metal cuffs together and grabbed his head with her legs. Lin pushed off and spun, bringing the man down hard. She was already off of him and running towards Su._

_The man unsheathed a dagger and brought it to Suyin's throat. "I am going to have fun with you."_

_The metal cable flew out and grabbed the man's wrist. Lin battled for dominance over the man, her metal bending still weaker than her mother's. Sweat dripped down the side of her face as she tried to focus all her energy into the cable. With all her strength, Lin pulled the man towards her. He dropped Su onto the ground and Yono ran to her immediately. Lin ran and stepped off the walls to try and wrap her cables around, but the man grabbed the cable with his other hand and pulled Lin down. The thirteen year old hit her face again the asphalt._

_The sound of a dagger unsheathing caught Su's attention. When she looked at the man, the knife was already speeding towards Lin. The only thing she could do was shout. "LIN!"_

_The eldest Bei Fong remained on the ground, still disoriented from hitting her head. She wasn't confused enough to miss the sound of the weapon gliding through the air. She just braced herself for impact._

_Her sister shrieked._

_Lin wondered when the pain would kick in. It was taking its sweet time she guessed. Her eyes opened and the world was still spinning, slowly, her vision came back and she was looking up at her sister. Suyin was gaping in horror, tears running down her face._

_Police sirens sounded outside the alley way._

_"Damn."_

_Lin only assumed that the man had run off. She looked at her sister._

_"Where's Yono?"_

* * *

Korra looked at Tenzin while she gripped the saddle tightly. "Well? Where was he?"

"On the ground. The dagger in his neck." Tenzin looked down with sorrow.

"What?!" The avatar held her head and stared at her airbending master with wide eyes. "He died protecting Lin?"

"Yes. Yono was an intelligent animal and had grown attached enough to the Bei Fongs to risk his life for any of them." Tenzin directed Oogi to the large opening near city hall. "It's a shame that it had to come down to that in the end."

Korra frowned. "What happened to Lin and Su?"

The airbender sighed. "Toph had destroyed almost half the city streets making her way to them once she was alerted. When she finally got to the scene. Lin's face was swollen and blackened. She has a concussion and both her eyes were swollen shut. Suyin a light cut on her throat and a large patch of hair pulled from her head. To say the least, the girls were not in the mood to do anything for the next couple of weeks. Regarding Yono, they buried him respectfully. It took Lin and Suyin weeks, maybe a couple months even, to return to normal. They never got another dog or any pet after that."

The avatar pondered on Tenzin's words. She remained silent as they got off Oogi and began walking towards the police station. It had been over ten minutes with Korra speaking no words

Tenzin cleared his throat. "So as you listed before, Lin may be all those things, but she loves animals. She loved Yono like he was a brother. Both Su and Lin did."

Korra stayed quiet for another minute. Her next words came out soft spoken. "Isn't Suyin visiting the city?"

"Um. Yes. It's just her though."

"Is she at the station?"

"I'm not sure."

The avatar looked with her blue eyes. "Can you ask? Then we need to make a quick stop somewhere."

* * *

Lin smirked and threw her cards down. She crossed her arms while Su scowled at her. Even at fifty two years old, beating her sister was satisfying.

"You cheated."

Lin rose an eyebrow. "I certainly did not. You just suck at poker."

The matriarch of the metal clan rolled her eyes. "Oh please, like I didn't see you hiding one of your cards."

"I have a full metal uniform on. Where was I gonna hide it?"

The two were currently in her office. After everything, Suyin had never thanked Korra for finding Aiwei and bring him back to her. Even if it was just his body, Su felt it appropriate to put him in prison. She had figured that an personal thank you would kill two birds with one stone: she would give her thanks and be able to visit Lin. The chief of police did have the press conference to discuss with the young avatar and since Su was currently staying with her, why not wait together. With nothing to do but wait for Korra, the sisters decided to pass the time with the pack of cards Lin kept in her desk.

"Don't act like you've never seen Mom hide seal jerky in her uniform when she was still chief." Suyin smirked.

Lin avoided eye contact with her sister. "Mom was crazy. Seal jerky just makes you stink like meat."

Suyin chuckled. "So I'm guessing you keep your fire flakes in your uniform instead."

Lin scowled. "Maybe."

Zaofu's founder let herself laugh before speaking again. "So what did Tenzin call about? Will I finally be able to say hello like I've been wanting to?"

"The airhead was wondering if you were here. Apparently Korra wanted to make sure we were both here." Lin shrugged.

"That's terrific. Now I can thank her properly."

There was a knock on the door and Lin's assistant entered. "Master Tenzin and Avatar Korra are here."

"Send them in."

Both Suyin and Lin were surprised to find Tenzin enter with a smile on his face Korra entered just as happy. The Bei Fong sisters gave each other a look.

"Suyin," Tenzin started. "It's nice to finally say hello again. How have you been?"

The old friends embraced. Suyin laughed. "I'm doing wonderful. You seem to be very happy yourself. What's got you all happy?"

"Good deeds. That's all."

Lin raised an eyebrow at her childhood friend.

Suyin moved on to Korra and gave the avatar a hug. "I also finally get to say thank you. Everything you did for my city is most appreciated. If you need anything now or in the future, Zaofu and my family are always available to you."

"Thank you. But I actually have a gift for you. You and Lin in fact." Korra smiled widely. It reminded everyone in the room of Avatar Aang.

Lin stood up and walked around her desk. "You didn't have to get us anything."

"Yeah, Korra. You owe us nothing."

The avatar paused to think. She answered back in seconds. "Well too bad. My gifts out in the hallway."

The Bei Fong sisters followed Tenzin and the avatar out into the hallway. Their hearts stopped at the sight of Korra's gift.

The watertribeswoman rubbed the back of her neck. "I don't exactly know how this is going to work, but she belongs to you two."

Before both Suyin and Lin stood a small reindeer puppy. Its tongue hung out of its mouth, its auburn tail wagged, and there was a tiny green bow holding the hair in between the small nubs that would soon turn into antlers when it grew older. Both Bei Fong women didn't know what to do.

This worried the young avatar.

"Do you not like her? I know she isn't Yono-"

"Who told you about Yono?" The chief of police said a little ruder than she intended.

Tenzin stroked his beard but continued to smile warmly at his former lover. "Her name is Rin."

There was a couple more seconds of silence before Suyin cut it with gentle laughter. "Rin? Really?"

"It was coincidence. Lin, Suyin, and Rin." Korra joined in the younger Bei Fong's laughter.

At that moment, the young puppy decided to jump up on Lin's legs. The chief of police didn't hesitate to pick the puppy up. Green eyes stared into gray as the two spoke without words. After a minute, the puppy barked and began licking Lin's face.

"Hey! Quit!" As Lin continued scolding Rin, her voice changed from being annoyed to genuine laughter. "Rin!"

Suyin stood closer to her sister and began running her fingers through the dog's fur. "She has red fur. Just like Yono!"

Rin barked several times and began licking Suyin's hand.

"Yono wasn't this hyper though." The eldest Bei Fong scratched Rin's head.

"Let me hold her."

"I just picked her up. Give me a second."

"Come on, Lin!"

Tenzin put a hand on Korra's shoulder as they watched the two. "You did a very good thing here, Korra."

"You think so?" The young avatar smiled and cocked her head at the sisters before them.

"Damnit, Lin. It's my turn."

"I can't believe how impatient you are."

"Stop hogging her!"

"Stop acting like a child!"

"Rin, charge!"

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed that little story. It's what wouldn't leave my head. Now I can work on my other stories. Please review!**


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